November 2012

Jaundiced lines penned after hearing a not-so-local priest coming on the radio to congratulate a couple of National Lottery winners

Big money has its own secret tongue
That gold it can shine like your own secret sun
When it whispers in your ear it gives you so much fun
It tickles your insides when you dance to its tune.

Now your rural parishioner, he is a simple man,
He is not aware of Big Money’s grand plan,
Though he is a part of it, he cannot understand,

 AS the controversial Corrib gas project enters its final phase of construction, the first stage play about the project has opened in Dublin. Alliliú Fionnuala was written by actor and scriptwriter, Donal O’Kelly, directed by Sorcha Fox and designed by Robert Ballagh. It is being staged at Theatre Upstairs (Lanigans Bar), Eden Quay, at lunchtime, from Monday to Saturday, for the next two weeks.

When a giant tunnel-boring machine belonging to Shell got stuck in the bog in Mayo last July, Donal O'Kelly saw his chance.

O'Kelly is a veteran actor and writer, and something of a specialist in one-man shows. His most famous, Catalpa, now 15 years old, won awards and rave reviews internationally, and is still regularly restaged. His new show, the improbably-titled Ailliliú Fionnuala (details below), tells the story of that boring machine.

That may not sound like an obvious subject for a drama. But O'Kelly had been searching for a way to tell the story of the Shell saga at Rossport for some time.

Shell's pipeline and refinery project has been provoking protests since at least 2005 and O'Kelly became a regular visitor, getting to know the locals involved.

[Shell to Sea] No surprise that Forbes backs Big Oil but interesting to see that all the comments so far seem in support of the campaign.